NEXUS C y f I R I f IS
Oiil oi' darkiiess iiiTo light: fhis seenis to be
tho symbolic evolution of the painrer Pérez
Navarro. Iii liis earlier exhibition in Las
l-'alnias (La Regenta, 1991), grey shading
and nielaiicholy intonations dominated,
while now an incandescent yellow bathes
the pictorial space. The stage that once was
dinuned is now brightly-ht. We see the
same things in greater clarity, the same
snbstance of his poetics: the search for
straightforwardness and pleasure, besieged
bv the aljvss and the sohtude of being.
He is a concise artist. A fcw basic
elements suffice in the organisation of his
discourse: a few cactus leaves, a few prickly
pear trees, a tree trunk, and in the distance
a hazy moujitain, reniiniscent of the Far
East and the silent poetry of its painting.
The rest is desert and vellow sea. Once the
fog has lifted the motifs liecome isolated:
tliey are metaphors for the lack of
conimiinication and tlic impossibilitA- of
knowledge between human beings. Eacli
contemplates its own solitude, floating
stranded in the mystery of existence. The
hght that surrounds them does not clarifv
their essence; I believe it was .lean Giono
who wroie ihat when mysteries most clever,
thev hide in plain siglit. Pérez Navarro
displavs a l'exv etcrnal ideas with clarity,
without trving to provide any answers; his
goal ¡s to make us participants in his
questions. To this end it is cnough that he
paint well, posilioning the stains of (-olour
in just the right place, resolving the formal
problems with virtuosity, and carrying out
an investigation while creating a thing of
beauty. The imaginatiou travels
accom]3anied bv lalent. Thoughl enters the
material realm where we share. criticise
and enjoy it. The result is the handful of
good paintings that were displayed at the
Manuel Ojeda Gallery. They are inspií'ed by
nature's plant and mineral kingdoms; they
ai'e interpreted by representatives from the
animal kinudoiii — llie artist and om'selves.
Pérez Na
These paintings of nature are mental not
retinal; in other words, in Picasso's
expression, T paint roses not as I see them
but rather as I understand them.' The
forms and elements that Pérez Navarro
takes from nature are enlisted into the
service of his poetics; their true likeness
does not escape liim. but their artistic
utilisation is what most interests him. Their
function is more constructive than
evocativc. In a different text I pointerl out
that his coloiirs and nattu'al forms are
reduced accorfling to the constructive
demands of the pictorial space. The artist's
objective is to domínate the space; the
elements that reside there are siibordinated
to this objective. In this sense. his work is
constructive without being anchored in
geometrv.
S.T., 1995. Mi.ved inedia oii cativas
130 X 14Ü cni.
Li the Talmud it is written that the
word is silver and silence is golden. The
colour of gold is yellow: this is the colour of
cholee for the artist in this series. A yellow
sweat drowns the painting, submerging it
into silence. The scenario appears
motionless, suspended out of time and
gravit)-. The forms fall silent, ecstatic in the
light of a frozen desert.
Moreover, these paintings are modern
interpretations of Canary Islands
landscapes where likeness is not the
emphasis. The landscape is felt as a space
for plástic experimentation. In a limpid
atmosphere where one might recognise the
island light that also dazzled Gramas,
Pérez Navarro arranges an evanescent
mountain, a few objects and a vast
eni|jtiness. Blinded liy the light. these
motifs wander through a caltn and
enigmatic space where the absence of the
human figure and the lack of a horizon
strenglhen tlie sense of e.xislential solittide
and infinity.
Tlie series of prickly pear trees alone
parlicipates in the same discourse but
stands apart. Painted in bine, they unfold
over a yellow surface and remind us of
"the peaceful eternity of an instant'', of the
many faces of solitude and of the
sensuahty of naked beauty. The forms are
arranged arbitrarily, reflecting or blocking
the light and creating the comijosition, but
they never prevent emptiness from filtering
through the hitervals formed between
them. There are also shadows and
desolation in the light; desire is the mask
ol disgust. Behhid everv certainty an
uncertaiiUy is in store for us, after every
"definitive" paintitig anotlier must be
created, to continué forward along the
Taoist path that leads nowhere. or
Nietszche's eternal retiirn. According to
Aristotoles, that whidí we must learn we
wiJl learn by doing. ;Vpart from action, all
is sohtude.
CtNKO AIíANriCODf *»Ti ^^ODi>t^

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NEXUS C y f I R I f IS
Oiil oi' darkiiess iiiTo light: fhis seenis to be
tho symbolic evolution of the painrer Pérez
Navarro. Iii liis earlier exhibition in Las
l-'alnias (La Regenta, 1991), grey shading
and nielaiicholy intonations dominated,
while now an incandescent yellow bathes
the pictorial space. The stage that once was
dinuned is now brightly-ht. We see the
same things in greater clarity, the same
snbstance of his poetics: the search for
straightforwardness and pleasure, besieged
bv the aljvss and the sohtude of being.
He is a concise artist. A fcw basic
elements suffice in the organisation of his
discourse: a few cactus leaves, a few prickly
pear trees, a tree trunk, and in the distance
a hazy moujitain, reniiniscent of the Far
East and the silent poetry of its painting.
The rest is desert and vellow sea. Once the
fog has lifted the motifs liecome isolated:
tliey are metaphors for the lack of
conimiinication and tlic impossibilitA- of
knowledge between human beings. Eacli
contemplates its own solitude, floating
stranded in the mystery of existence. The
hght that surrounds them does not clarifv
their essence; I believe it was .lean Giono
who wroie ihat when mysteries most clever,
thev hide in plain siglit. Pérez Navarro
displavs a l'exv etcrnal ideas with clarity,
without trving to provide any answers; his
goal ¡s to make us participants in his
questions. To this end it is cnough that he
paint well, posilioning the stains of (-olour
in just the right place, resolving the formal
problems with virtuosity, and carrying out
an investigation while creating a thing of
beauty. The imaginatiou travels
accom]3anied bv lalent. Thoughl enters the
material realm where we share. criticise
and enjoy it. The result is the handful of
good paintings that were displayed at the
Manuel Ojeda Gallery. They are inspií'ed by
nature's plant and mineral kingdoms; they
ai'e interpreted by representatives from the
animal kinudoiii — llie artist and om'selves.
Pérez Na
These paintings of nature are mental not
retinal; in other words, in Picasso's
expression, T paint roses not as I see them
but rather as I understand them.' The
forms and elements that Pérez Navarro
takes from nature are enlisted into the
service of his poetics; their true likeness
does not escape liim. but their artistic
utilisation is what most interests him. Their
function is more constructive than
evocativc. In a different text I pointerl out
that his coloiirs and nattu'al forms are
reduced accorfling to the constructive
demands of the pictorial space. The artist's
objective is to domínate the space; the
elements that reside there are siibordinated
to this objective. In this sense. his work is
constructive without being anchored in
geometrv.
S.T., 1995. Mi.ved inedia oii cativas
130 X 14Ü cni.
Li the Talmud it is written that the
word is silver and silence is golden. The
colour of gold is yellow: this is the colour of
cholee for the artist in this series. A yellow
sweat drowns the painting, submerging it
into silence. The scenario appears
motionless, suspended out of time and
gravit)-. The forms fall silent, ecstatic in the
light of a frozen desert.
Moreover, these paintings are modern
interpretations of Canary Islands
landscapes where likeness is not the
emphasis. The landscape is felt as a space
for plástic experimentation. In a limpid
atmosphere where one might recognise the
island light that also dazzled Gramas,
Pérez Navarro arranges an evanescent
mountain, a few objects and a vast
eni|jtiness. Blinded liy the light. these
motifs wander through a caltn and
enigmatic space where the absence of the
human figure and the lack of a horizon
strenglhen tlie sense of e.xislential solittide
and infinity.
Tlie series of prickly pear trees alone
parlicipates in the same discourse but
stands apart. Painted in bine, they unfold
over a yellow surface and remind us of
"the peaceful eternity of an instant'', of the
many faces of solitude and of the
sensuahty of naked beauty. The forms are
arranged arbitrarily, reflecting or blocking
the light and creating the comijosition, but
they never prevent emptiness from filtering
through the hitervals formed between
them. There are also shadows and
desolation in the light; desire is the mask
ol disgust. Behhid everv certainty an
uncertaiiUy is in store for us, after every
"definitive" paintitig anotlier must be
created, to continué forward along the
Taoist path that leads nowhere. or
Nietszche's eternal retiirn. According to
Aristotoles, that whidí we must learn we
wiJl learn by doing. ;Vpart from action, all
is sohtude.
CtNKO AIíANriCODf *»Ti ^^ODi>t^